Dragon of The South
by Ronden Kiagre
Summary: Sokka learned to hate weird spirit magic long before he met the Avatar. He may not have his boomerang anymore, but he'll fight on with all the meat and sarcasm he can muster.
1. Chapter 1

_A/N: I know I've got three ongoing stories plus a couple more in the works, but this one just wouldn't leave me alone no matter how many times I told it that it was stupid and should go away. On the plus side, this shouldn't be nearly as slow to update as my other stuff, since it will stick sort of, well, not always close, but parallel-ish to canon._

Chapter one:

Paddle Faster, I Hear Tsungi Horns

* * *

The giant sturgeon-pike swam lethargically through the frigid sea, confident in its supremacy over the depths. Too large and swift and toothy for the tastes of penguins and zebra-seals, and dwelling too far below the surface to need fear the spears of water-tribe fishermen, it's place as an apex predator would go unchallenged until autumn, when the orca returned from the more temperate waters to the north.

Or so it thought.

Still as the iceberg whose underside it clung to, invisible as a snowflake in a blizzard, the white dragon held its breath. And waited.

* * *

Katara paddled leisurely between two ice floes, contentedly observing the beauty of the untamed sea around her. The pale light of the midnight sun had turned the frozen glass of the sea into perfect mirror of the grey - blue sky, the false abyss broken only by the jagged teeth and formless slabs of white ice, giving all the world a surreal, majestic emptiness, and a sense of vastness that-

Water crashed as a twenty foot sturgeon-pike breached, some thirty yards to starboard, an eight foot dragon cub clinging desperately to the great fish's tail by the tips of its teeth. The fish flopped furiously in and out and over the surface of the water, viciously battering itself, and its unwanted passenger, against the waves it was churning up, and Katara noted with some worry that it was moving in her general direction.

The first wave she managed to deflect entirely on instinct, however, startled by her own unexpected accomplishment, she failed to do anything about the next dozen, and thus found herself sliding across a violently rocking ice floe as her canoe rolled over and off and into the water, where it was promptly swamped, capsized, and sank.

At this point the fish had the misfortune to violently brain itself against a passing iceberg, quickly taking most of the fight out of it. Glaring murderously at the now useless paddle in her hands, she quickly found a new target for her ire as the dragon, smugly dragging one still weakly thrashing sturgeon-pike, pulled itself up onto the ice floe, nearly tipping it in the process, before shaking itself dry.

* * *

"Dammit Sokka! What were you thinking?!" Katara shouted, gesticulating furiously, paddle still in hand. "That thing is literally twice your size! One wrong twitch and you would have been the one with his head busted open against the ice! And it's not just your own idiot life you're risking when you pull stunts like this!"

Sokka, distracted by the large iceberg his sister was systematically demolishing in the background, barely managed to seize hold of the sturgeon-pike as it regained consciousness and made one final bid for freedom before he tore out its throat.

"Were you even listening to a word I said?" Katara growled.

Sokka nodded emphatically, with barely a glance at the still crumbling iceberg behind her.

Following his gaze with a Self Righteous Glare of Indignation ™ , his sister was taken aback by the sight before her, as now that it had gained the attention of its unknowing tormentor, the great edifice chose that moment to begin making the full extent of its grievances known. With a deep, creaking groan and a series of whistling, resonant cracks, the mountain of ice tore itself apart in a fountain of glittering shards and frothing water.

For several moments the siblings watched the churning sea in silence, until Katara hazarded the question;

"How are we getting home?"

Thinking for a moment, Sokka slipped one of his whip-like whiskers into her hand.

" _I could try pushing the ice floe."_ he thought aloud.

" _And you could maybe use the paddle to steer- Katara that's not funny."_

"Wha-?"

Rather than subsiding, the angry churning of the water was only growing fiercer, now beginning to violently rock their small ice floe.

" _Katara! Cut it out!"_

"This isn't me!" Katara had to nearly shout to be heard over the waves.

" _Well make it stop!"_ Sokka pleaded, struggling to simultaneously maintain contact with his sister and keep his fish from sliding off the wildly rocking ice.

With a mighty SPLOOSH! and accompanying shower of freezing cold water, a giant, blue glowing sphere of ice burst to the surface. The two siblings scrambled to maintain their footing as their refuge was tossed once more by the waves.

As the water calmed, Katara stood suddenly, shouted something Sokka didn't catch, and leapt, paddle in hand over to the new iceberg. Halfway through leaping after her, Sokka spun around and seized hold of the dead sturgeon-pike before it slid back into the water, nearly being dragged with it in the process. After several moments of panicked indecision, he set about the arduous task of dragging his fish over to the iceberg.

By the time he arrived, once again sopping wet, and had finished extricating his catch from the water, nearly a minute had passed, and Katara had begun violently assaulting the iceberg with her canoe paddle.

Seeking an opening to question her, Sokka instead found himself awkwardly bobbing and weaving behind her as he attempted to avoid becoming collateral damage in his possibly insane sister's apparent quest to remind an oversized lump of ice and snow who had just finished kicking the snot out of it a minute earlier.

Both siblings were sent sprawling when the iceberg split open with a rush of dry wind and a long flare of blinding white light. Eyes clamped shut to block out the light, Sokka finally managed to get a whisker over his sister's shoulder.

" _I think you should stop attacking this thing; You're pissing it off, and it clearly possesses power and malevolence far beyond us mere mortals."_

" _There's someone inside!"_

" _What?!"_

As the blazing light faded to a more tolerable level, a dark silhouette appeared, looming atop a steep edifice of ice, it's eyes aglow with baleful blue flame. Snarling, Sokka reared up on his hind legs, wings flared to their full twenty-foot span and mane puffed wide, hot orange flames flickering between bared fangs. This left him feeling slightly foolish when the deathly light vanished, and the previously imposing figure toppled like a ragdoll from his perch. Katara immediately dashed forward to catch him.

The boy was scrawny, bald, and tattooed, dressed in a thin outfit of yellow and orange cloth. In a weak, quavering voice he spoke, scratchy and halting;

"Can- can I ask you something?"

"Of course." Katara replied solemnly, no doubt listening for what would almost certainly be the boy's final request.

"Do you wanna go penguin sledding with me?!"

Not for the first time, and certainly not for the last, Sokka found himself desperately regretting his inability to smack himself in the face.

* * *

" _Shocking. The two-and-a-half-ton wingless buffalo can't actually fly."_

Katara felt a flicker of guilty satisfaction when her brother visibly flinched from the force of her Reproving Glare™.

" _You're one to talk. I seem to remember a certain incident-"_

" _I thought we agreed to never speak of that again."_

Katara raised an eyebrow disbelievingly.

" _Besides, we both know the whole thing was your fault."_

"Excuse _me? Need I remind you that the fish hooks were_ your _idea-"_

"So, just to address the elephant - boar in the room," Aang piped up, "but I wasn't aware the Water Tribes kept pet dragons. I thought that was more a Fire Nation thing."

"Trust me. Sokka is no one's _pet_."

"Wow! You managed to befriend a wild dragon?! That's so cool! I wanted to try that once, but Kuzon said that it was _super_ dangerous. I wanted to try anyway but then Monk Gyatso said-"

"What? No! He's my brother!"

"..."

"You have a problem with that?"

"No! No, … but, how does that work?"

"The same as any other brother-sister relationship, except with half as many opposable thumbs."

Sokka snorted indignantly.

"No, I meant how did you end up with a dragon for a brother?"

"Well he wasn't always a dragon. That's actually a relatively recent development."

"Wait, what? Also how?"

"Ask Sokka to explain."

" _Do I have to?"_

" _Not technically, but you really should. Gran-gran says talking about it will help."_

" _But he smells funny! And I really don't want to go rooting through his empty head. I might get lost in there!"_

" _Sokka! Don't be rude! And it's especially nasty to say things like that about someone when they can't hear you."_

" _Yes Mom."_

" …"

" _Sorry. That was uncalled for."_

" _Yes. Yes it was."_

"Um, guys?"

" _Fine. I'll tell him."_

* * *

They were gathering driftwood when the shadow passed over the sun. Too swift for a cloud, to big for a bird, the then thirteen year old Sokka was immediately on edge. Carefully, he set down the basket of driftwood, readying his spear.

" Katara."

Then he saw it. The massive green shape dropping silently from the sky with all the speed of a hungry petrel-albatross. With a cry, he leapt in front of his sister and hurled his spear at the beast's face. It struck with lethal accuracy, right between the monster's eyes, and shattered against its iron hard scales.

Staggering backward, the siblings narrowly avoided the creature's grasping talons. With a yelp and a flail of her arms Katara sent a spray of snow sailing into the dragon's face, drawing its predatory amber gaze to rest squarely on her. With another cry, Sokka sent Boomerang whistling toward its eyes. A swift blink put paid to any plans of striking a gap in the monster's armor, but its pained yelp was satisfying nonetheless.

Suddenly Sokka found himself on his rear, nose brushing against the dragon's bared fangs. Crab-walking away on reflex, Sokka paused, thought long and hard for half a second, shot Katara a (hopefully) meaningfully glance, stared the gargantuan beast straight in its head sized amber eyes, and sneered defiantly as he stuck the pointy end of Boomerang right in the tip of its tongue.

The roar that followed sent him tumbling head-over-heels across the beach, smashing and scraping over rocks and branches along the way. Sokka must have blacked out at some point, because the next thing he was aware of was dangling in midair, staring at a blur that slowly resolved itself into a rapidly receding upside down beach, with a shrinking blue speck sprinting over the black and grey stone in a futile attempt at pursuit.

* * *

Sokka wasn't sure how long they flew. For the first hour or so he struggled desperately, and ultimately futilely, until he finally collapsed from exhaustion. He doubted the dragon even noticed. At first he tried to rationalize that even if he did escape he would simply plummet to his death, but this led to the counterpoint that the only likely alternative was staying here and presumably being fed to a bunch of baby dragons. And, well, he'd seen what a couple baby penguins could do to a fish, and a nice quick death via massive blunt force trauma seemed infinitely preferable to being torn limb from limb and eaten alive. And that wasn't even considering the possibility that dragons, being able to breath fire, might prefer their meat cooked. Sokka eventually passed out, cold, exhausted and terrified. He slept fitfully, and woke often from half-remembered nightmares of fangs and fire, thrashing hopelessly until weariness dragged him back to the horrors behind his eyes.

Eventually he woke fully, and found they were descending toward a craggy island, wreathed in fog and covered in ancient, twisted trees. In the face of the wind and waves they stood, bent and bowed, but unbroken, their bark peeled away and their leaves and needles reduced to withered tufts. Yet still they clung to life with roots and branches like grasping, skeletal hands, giving the whole island the appearance of a poorly constructed burial mound.

As they drifted down, Sokka saw they were angling toward a long vertical crevice in the basalt ridge that formed the spine of the island, a gaping maw of darkest shadow lined with teeth of jagged stone. Then they plunged in, and soon they were shrouded in near-absolute darkness. For several seconds they plunged through shadow and stone, the whistling wind their only companion, until, beneath them, Sokka spotted a faint glow. Suddenly the chasm opened into a wide cavern, and he took in their surroundings as they landed.

The cavern itself was of mottled black and brown stone, shot through with green and red. The floor and lower walls, several hundred feet below by his estimate, were in shape more akin to ice after a brief but powerful thaw; flowing and bubbling in fantastical curves and swells. The most notable features however were the dragon cubs; Sokka counted just shy of a dozen of them scattered about, in a whole rainbow of colors.

Many appeared to be dozing in various nooks and crannies about the great space, a pair were taking it in turns to puff controlled bursts of flame into a large pit filled with strawberry-cherry red stones and gravel; the source of the glow he had seen earlier, as well as the sweltering heat that permeated the cave.

A few yards away from the firepit three of what appeared to be the largest cubs were busy tearing a whale carcass into much more manageably sized chunks, before bringing them over to the pair tending the fire to begin roasting, filling the whole cavern with the mouthwatering smells and sounds of barbecue.

' _Wait, if there are this many of them, and they're already cooking up an_ entire whale _, then I would barely count as a snack for even one of them."_ Sokka realized gleefully _._

' _But it also probably means they won't have much in the way of leftover barbecue.'_ his stomach interjected.

' _Shut up! This is one gift ostrich-horse we really can't afford to look on the mouth right now!'_

' _Hey, I'm not the one who went the whole day without eating!'_

' _That is_ SO _not my fault! And shut up already! I'm trying to think, and having a mental argument with one's stomach is probably a sign of some kind of insanity.'_

' _Hunger induced insanity.'_

' _Shut up!'_

The dragon touched down in a wide, flat area near the center of the cavern, and deposited Sokka on the floor. He quickly scrabbled back and watched it warily. He was now fairly confident he wasn't going to be eaten, but that didn't mean the dragon's intentions were even the slightest bit friendly.

"So, if I'm not dinner, why am I here?"

One of the dragon's whiskers snapped out, brushing over his forehead;

" _Well aren't you a clever one? And stubborn. I'd give you better odds than most, little human-cub."_ her (he didn't know how, but he knew it was a she) voice echoed through his mind.

"Did you just-? Wait, better odds at what? What's going on?"

" _So many questions little human-cub. If you-"_

"I have a name you know! It's-"

" _For now, perhaps."_

"Wait, what?!"

" _Names are a human idea, unnecessary for those who speak as we do, a perverse lie that can never tell the full truth of who one is."_

"O-kay? But, all the dragons I've heard stories about had names too."

" _Names that_ humans _gave them! The weak and tame may have consented to use them, but a true dragon would never sink so low!"_

"You really don't like humans do you?"

" _Humans betrayed my kin! Humans butchered my people! Humans stole my hatchling from me! You are a clever cub, what do you think?"_

"Please tell me I'm not about to be sacrificed in the name of some evil spirit or something equally horrifying and nonsensical."

The dragon gave a distinctly unfriendly sounding chuckle.

" _Well, little human-cub, that depends."_

" _NOT_ a very reassuring answer. Wait! Depends on what?"

" _On whether you survive. As I said, I give you better odds than most."_ the dragon thought to him, rivulets of fire flowing between her teeth.

"So, just out of curiosity," Sokka stalled, attempting to back away from the dragon, who paced him step for step. "You wouldn't happen to know if these are the 'subject their victims to an eternity of torment' kind of evil spirits would you?"

" _Truthfully? I neither know nor care."_

Sokka's last thoughts before the flames hit were roughly along the lines of 'well this is going to _SUCK'._

He wasn't wrong.


	2. Chapter 2

_A/N: Less humor in this one, but it just didn't seem to fit with the tone of everything else. Will be back to the jokes next chapter._

* * *

Chapter Two:

Debts of Honor

Prince Zuko would never admit to it, but he was currently feeling more than a little thankful that his uncle was as obsessed with tea as he was. They had spotted the blazing column of light on the southern horizon four days ago, and in that time they had learned why the Fire Nation didn't have any outposts at these latitudes: midnight sun was _hell_. Iroh had managed to whip up some kind of sedative yesterday, allowing the firebenders on board the first night of real sleep since they had sailed into these frigid waters.

Turning to Lieutenant Jee, he nodded crisply.

"You have the command until we return."

The Prince pretended not to see the hint of hesitation in the man's salute as he turned back to the troop ramp and marched down onto the ice-pack, Uncle and a squad of marines in tow.

They had spent days scouring the icy coastline before they had spotted this desolate little cluster of frozen hovels, and while the Prince was relentlessly self sufficient, even he had to admit that diplomacy was not his strong suit, thus Uncle. Not to say he was expecting things to be resolved peacefully, but it never hurt to be prepared. Besides, having the Dragon of the West along for the ride would also be helpful when everything inevitably went to Koh in a handbasket.

Stopping just outside atlatl range of the village's meager walls, Zuko bit back a reprimand as one of the spearmen shuffled miserably in the cold. It wouldn't do to show disunity in front of the barbarians. And there Uncle was, puffing flames into his hands and rubbing his palms for warmth, heedless of the indignity and weakness it betrayed.

Even though he had been expecting it, the Prince still seethed when the peasants made them wait nearly a quarter of an hour before sending out a delegation of there own, said delegation seeming to consist solely of a trio of elderly women.

 _Where are the men?_

Scanning the surrounding snow for signs of an impending ambush, Zuko was unable to spot anything besides a few examples of the local wildlife.

 _Just because you can't see them doesn't mean they're not there._

Tamping down his fury and paranoia, the Prince forced himself to appear calm; it wouldn't do to appear spooked, and besides, if they were planning an ambush, they wouldn't have tipped their hand so obviously.

Eventually the Water Tribe delegation reached their position, coming to a halt shoulder to shoulder some five yards away. After several moments of _extremely_ tense silence, the one in the middle, by far the oldest and presumably the leader, cleared her throat.

"What do you want?"

"We are looking for the Avatar, and have reason to believe he may be in the area."

"Ha! No one has seen the Avatar in the last century, boy, and even if I had do you think I'd tell you?"

"That's why we're going to search your village." the Prince answered, keeping his face stonily neutral as the woman on the left failed to hide her flinch.

"We would _prefer_ to do so without bloodshed . . ." he trailed off, letting the veiled threat sink in for several moments, trying to hide his own tension. If the barbarians had an ambush waiting in the wings, now would be when they would probably spring it.

After a moment, the old woman sagged almost imperceptibly.

"Go."

Zuko led his troop around the village to the main entrance, the three locals trudging behind. Just as he was about to march into the settlement, the Prince's eye was caught by a stretch of snow that appeared subtly different to the rest. The strange, semi-regular pattern led inland, away from the village.

 _Someone tried to cover their tracks._

"Uncle. Stay here with the spearmen, don't let anyone leave the village."

"Prince Zuko?"

"Someone snuck off when they saw us coming."

Gesturing to the four firebending marines, the Prince stalked after their mysterious runaways.

* * *

Sokka felt Ill as he stalked silently through the snow, shadowing the five firebenders as they followed the trail of water bent snow Katara had laid to conceal Appa's massive tracks. As soon as the ship had been sighted on the horizon they had loaded Aang, his sister, and all of the children onto the bison and sent them inland. The young monk had once again insisted that Appa could fly, but as Sokka had pointed out, even if he could that would only increase the odds of him being spotted. Now he was beginning to regret that statement.

 _At least they're splitting up. If I can take down these five out in the tundra, we should be able to deal with those three no problem. And with the shore party wiped out, the ship should withdraw long enough for us to relocate._

Presently, the marines paused, gesturing excitedly, and then set off with renewed vigor.

 _They must have found Appa's tracks. Katara wouldn't have bothered hiding more than the first half mile or so._

Slinking across the snow and ice, the white Dragon followed his unsuspecting prey.

* * *

Zuko felt like he was being watched. He had yet to spot their stalkers, which was surprising, given the pace they must be moving at to keep up with himself and his men. That was unsettling.

As were the tracks they were following: large and round and partially filled in with snow pushed by something being dragged behind whatever beast had made them as it seemed to effortlessly plow through ten foot high snowbanks. Whatever it was must have been _massive_.

Perhaps a mile or so ahead he could see a series of icy crags, some of which appeared to be riddled with caves carved by meltwater. Far behind them he could just make out a faint wisp of smoke rising from the village.

And out of the corner of his eye, a flicker of white movement, slightly less reflective than the surrounding snow.

Flames erupted.

* * *

A sense of unease, previously kept to a low simmer, now bloomed in Iroh's gut, mirroring the tiny burst of fire on the southern horizon.

Turning to one of the spearmen, he commanded:

"Go back to the ship. Bring reinforcements."

* * *

Zuko dropped to the ground as the sinuous white shape ripped through his flames, slicing through the space he had just occupied.

 _Too small to be a polar-bear-dog. Thankfully._

Surging to his feet the Prince shot a lance of flame at the creature even as it pounced on one of the marines. The nearly invisible silhouette seemed to expand violently as it shot sideways, kicking up a massive plume of snow as it vanished into the tundra once more.

 _Should've guessed. Nothing as sneaky as a wild animal on its home turf._

"Still got all your limbs, private?" One of the marines quiped to their severely disheveled but otherwise unharmed comrade.

"Yeah. You see what it was? I was a bit busy trying to not get eaten."

"No. The glare off the snow is awful, and that thing was _fast_."

"Was?"

"It should be gone for good, most animals are smart enough not to tangle with firebenders-"

Fire swept over the snow, quickly being swatted aside, but it was only a diversion from the real attack: the beast swooped in, bowling over two of the marines and pinning them to the ground, swatting another aside with its tail, and drove back the last with a concentrated jet of flame, before Zuko's fire bolt sent it leaping away with a yelp.

 _A Dragon!_

A very small dragon on closer inspection as they circled each-other, flames flickering in hand and maw.

 _So the kidnappings weren't limited to the colonies._

* * *

Sokka was beginning to consider the possibility that picking his first real fight with five fully trained firebenders might have been a bad idea.

He had expected to swoop in and butcher half of them before they even realized they were under attack, but the scarred one was frighteningly fast, and the other four were far more competent than he had given them credit for.

 _And there's something familiar about the scarred one._

It came to him as they circled each-other, an adrenaline-blurred memory of fire and panic. Firebenders rappelling down into the cave, Her leaping into the air to confront them, the elder cubs in tow. And him; taking the only chance at escape he could see before they broke him and he forgot his own name like the rest. Three officers, one young and scarred, the others old and grey, leading four marines down the cliffs to fight a monster, seen only in a flash as he flew past to freedom.

There had been no carefully laid plans that night. No cunning or stealth, just fire and blood, and the taste of salt flavored _freedom_. He hadn't looked back, nor had he spent much time dwelling on those events. It hurt too much, and he couldn't change them. He had moved on, gone home, tried as best he could to return to normalcy.

And now he was faced with the uncomfortable realization that he _owed_ these men. Men who would kill his family without a second thought if given a reason and an opportunity.

His moral dilemma was interrupted by a second squad of marines charging in from behind, surrounding him. Slumping in defeat, Sokka lowered his hackles.

* * *

Zuko stood warily, unsure of what to do. Surrender was apparent in every line of the Dragon's frame, but that didn't mean it wasn't a ruse. And even if it was genuine, what was he supposed to _do_ with the beast? And why was it waving its whisker at him?

"I believe he wants to talk to you nephew."

"How?"

"Grab the feeler."

Despite being more than a little apprehensive about putting his hand within biting range, Zuko reached out, gingerly grasping the tip of the Dragon's whisker.

" _If I come with you, will you swear to leave my village in peace?"_

" _We're not here for you. We're here for the Avatar."_

" _You're searching in the wrong century then. I haven't seen any Avatars around here, and I try to keep an eye out for that kind of spirit weirdness."_

Zuko could _feel_ the truth in the Dragon's words- er, thoughts.

" _Damn this is confusing- oops. Didn't mean to say- damn-"_

" _Welcome to my life."_

Zuko caught himself smirking.

" _So you would have seen that giant glowing light a few days ago then."_

The Dragon's thoughts became evasive, but the Prince was able to catch glimpses of a young boy in orange and yellow garb and blue arrow tattoos.

" _An airbender."_

" _Um, . . . Yeah . . . He's pretty annoying sometimes, but he seems like a decent kid. Don't take it too personally, but I'm not telling you where he is."_

" _You don't have to, the tracks are right there. Sky-bison, right?"_

" _They're just kids! All of them! Why can't you bastards just let us live our lives in peace?"_

" _My duty is to capture the Avatar. There's a better than decent chance your airbender friend knows something about him. He might even_ be _the Avatar, and just isn't advertising it."_

" _Your duty, Huh? Is that how all you murderers sleep at night? You tell yourselves 'It's just orders, I don't have a choice. It's not_ really _my fault.'?"_

An image of a firelit arena flashed briefly through Zuko's mind before he shoved it aside.

" _I_ don't _have a choice."_

" _Keep telling yourself that. Maybe eventually you'll even believe it."_ the Dragon thought angrily before pulling away.

The prince nodded to his uncle.

"Take him back to the ship."

* * *

The airbender was waiting for them not far ahead.

"Where's the Avatar?"

"What did you do to Sokka?"

"The Dragon? He won't be harmed unless he tries to escape. Now I'll ask you again. Where is the Avatar?"

"I'm right here."

Zuko suppressed a triumphant smirk.

"If you come with me, I'll leave the villagers in peace."

"You swear it?"

"I swear it."

* * *

Katara glanced up from her preparations when Gran-gran entered the tent.

"I'm going after them."

Kanna nodded solemnly.

"We'll have to relocate. It might take you a while to find us again."

"I don't think we'll be coming back right away. Aang mentioned he was interested in visiting the North Pole; if I learned proper waterbending, then next time the Marines came through, we might actually stand a chance."

Gran-gran sighed wearily.

"Don't get your hopes too high; the masters in the North haven't trained a woman in combat bending in more than five-hundred years. And even the best waterbenders I ever knew couldn't stand against the numbers the Sea Ravens brought."

"So you're saying it's hopeless." Katara murmured, eyes downcast as she filled a quiver with spears for her nuqaq.

"Oh child, look at me."

Katara did, tears in her eyes.

"Granddaughter, there is _always_ hope. Yes, perhaps we cannot defeat the whole Fire Nation from here. But while I may be no war chief, I've spent a lot of time with your father, and I've heard him say that if you can be somewhere no-one expects you to be you can do things everyone thinks are impossible."

Katara blinked in confusion.

"You have a sky-bison, and when you rescue your brother, you'll have a Dragon. You'll be the only people in the world who can _fly_. The only people in the last century. I know you and your brother will be able to use that advantage. La knows I don't want to see you two go off to war, but I've always known it would happen one day. So you find yourself a waterbending master, and a firebender for your brother, if you can, and you _come back to me_ after this is all over."

Sobbing, Katara hugged Kanna as hard as she could. They spent several minutes there; holding each other and crying. Eventually Katara stepped back.

Drying her eyes and holstering her boomerang, she nodded to her Gran-gran, squared her shoulders, and walked out of the tent. Climbing onto Appa's back and gathering his reins, she took a last look around her village; her entire world since she had been born.

"Appa. Yip-yip."

* * *

 _A/N: I was going to make this longer and include the rescue, but that just seemed like a perfect spot to end the chapter. Then again, I've had_ Living On A Prayer _by_ Bon Jovi _stuck in my head for the last day and a half, so my judgment might be slightly impaired. Peace._


	3. Chapter 3

_A/N: I know there was a lot less humor last chapter, but every time I tried to crowbar some in, it felt super out of place and tonally dissonant. That right there is probably the biggest thing that separates average guys like me from the superheroes of comedy writing like Terry Pratchett or Jim Butcher; they can magically remove the tonal whiplash from scenes that rapidly seesaw back and forth between brutally violent and side splittingly hilarious. Seriously. Read_ Thud _or_ Night Watch _or any of_ The Dresden Files _and you'll see what I mean. Anyway this chapter's tone should be more in line with the first one. Enjoy._

* * *

Chapter Three:

Oh Sister, Where Art Thou?

There had been a rather significant amount of debate as to where Sokka was going to be held. The scarred one; 'Prince Zuko' apparently, had suggested the brig, but his uncle had worried that the cells might be too small, and had recommended using an empty rhino pen in the beast hold. Zuko had felt this would not be secure enough. Sokka had managed to get his two coppers in and had stated in no uncertain terms how he felt about the idea of being kept in a pen full of livestock, and the likely consequences of doing so.

This had made Zuko suspicious, apparently deciding that this meant the Dragon _wanted_ to be put in the brig, and would somehow use this highly advantageous position to sabotage the vessel, free the Avatar, and escape, or something. Sokka didn't want to delve to deep into the murky depths of the Prince's paranoid mind, lest he start jumping at every shadow as well. Eventually it was decided they _would_ put him in the brig, and he was handed off to Uncle while Zuko went to go deal with an escape attempt by 'The Avatar', who had apparently been captured during the two hours since Sokka had surrendered.

By the time they arrived, Zuko and his marines were stuffing a heavily bound Aang into one of the other cells, with much grumbled cursing, nervous joking, and stone-faced glaring on the parts of the marines, Aang, and Zuko, respectively. Sokka wound up two cells down and across the hall from the hyperactive airbender, which as it turned out was not nearly far enough. Apparently, when unable to bounce off the walls, Aang would resort to talking constantly in order to vent his seemingly limitless energy. It took only a few minutes before the guards were all but screaming at him to shut up, which lasted about half an hour before they were too exhausted to keep yelling, and began attempting to ignore him. When he started singing, about an hour later horribly off key, and with an average of half the lyrics remembered, they simply resorted to covering their ears, humming loudly, and shooting pitying glances at Sokka, who had long ago learned to his horror that covering your ears (An occasional necessity when one is related to Katara) was on the depressingly long 'List of Common Activities That Require Prehensile Forelimbs and/or Opposable Thumbs'(LoCATRPFaoOT for short).

Eventually one of the guards, whom Sokka recognized as the young private he had attacked during his initial ambush, began surreptitiously sidling his way over to his cell. Sokka and the other guard both gave the man a _look_. Sheepishly, he went back to his post for several minutes before abandoning all pretensions of stealth, grabbing a stool, and planting it directly outside the bars of Sokka's cell. Sokka looked at him in confusion. He looked at Sokka nervously. The other guard looked at them both incredulously.

After several minutes of awkward silence(not counting Aang's singing), the private stuck his right arm through the bars, holding it out as if expecting to shake hands. Sokka's glare immediately went from one of warily amused confusion to irritated contempt(handshakes obviously being on the LoCATRPFaoOT). Embarrassed, the man withdrew his hand.

"Hi. I'm Private Kanzo." he said rapidly, eyes glued to the floor.

Sokka continued to stare at him, unimpressed.

"We're not supposed to talk to the prisoners private."

"Well if I have to spend the rest of shift doing nothing but listen to _his_ singing I'll go insane."

" _One-hundred bottles of baijiu on the wall! One-hundred bottles of baijiu! You take one down, you pass it around, ninety-nine bottles of baijiu on the wall!_ " Aang sang, beginning the fifth rendition of what was apparently one of his favorite songs(and one of the few that he remembered all of the lyrics to).

"Fair enough." the other guard conceded, gritting his teeth.

After several more moments of internal debate, Sokka extended a whisker. Kanzo reached out to meet it gingerly, as if expecting it to bite him.

" _If you start singing too, I will_ barbecue _you."_ Sokka snarled mentally.

Kanzo laughed nervously.

" _I wasn't planning on it."_

* * *

Appa flew low over the water, the not-quite-setting sun at his back as it skimmed the horizon. Katara had already noted that it had slid lower in the sky as they flew north, and was now closer to the horizon than it ever would have been at home this time of summer. Up ahead, they had finally spotted the smoke from their quarry, and were slowly gaining. She could now see the dark speck of metal cutting through the waves, weaving through the last few icebergs before it reached the open ocean.

Nervously, she checked over her gear for what must have been the hundredth time:

Boomerang, holstered on her back, she could reliably hit a stationary or slowly moving target, though she wasn't yet able to get it to come back, never mind strike multiple targets with it's ricochets as Sokka used to do.

Knife, sheathed on her left thigh, she had no experience with this weapon, but it was better than bare hands in close-quarters.

Waterskin, Belted to her left hip, she might be able to bowl a man over or freeze him in place, but in a real fight she was more confident with her last weapon;

Nuqaq, hanging from her right hip, next to it's quiver, and the half dozen short spears it contained. This was the weapon she was most familiar with, the tool whose use she had learned in those dark days immediately after her brother's kidnapping, when she had found herself filling in as the sole 'man of the tribe'. With this weapon she could strike a fleeing pika-squirrel at thirty paces, or kill a caribou-seal with a single well placed spear. And, if the stories she had overheard as a child were to be believed, at close range, it could punch through all but the thickest of Fire-Nation Armor. Against the lacquered-bamboo plate and leather-lamellar worn by most marines, they may as well be going into battle naked.

Swooping between a pair of icebergs, she guided Appa alongside the ship, feet almost skimming the water, the vessel's hull hopefully hiding them from anyone on deck. Just above, one of the ship's anchors hung from a thick chain, ready to drop at a moment's notice. The chain led through a dark opening to the vessel's interior, presumably to a winch or capstan of some description. Grabbing hold of the anchor, she clambered hand-over-hand up the thick chain as Appa peeled off toward the concealment of the nearby icebergs.

The opening itself proved more of an issue, as it was rather narrow, especially when the not-inconsiderable girth of the rode was taken into consideration. After a moment of consideration, Katara ended up dropping most of her equipment through the gap ahead of her, then spending several minutes squirming and squeezing her own way through.

The winch room was nearly pitch black, but Katara managed to gather up her gear and locate the door by feel, and after some trial-and-error, she managed figure out the turn-wheel and open it.

The hallway outside was dimly lit by the occasional red lantern, and echoed with distant footsteps and chatter over the groan of shifting metal. Creeping through the seemingly labyrinthian interior, Katara encountered the occasional guard on patrol, but they were infrequent an inattentive, easily avoided. However she quickly became lost among the many identical decks and passages. Several nerve-wracking hours passed as she wandered the ship, avoiding the more densely peopled regions as she searched. Eventually her ears caught a familiar voice;

"- _Seventeen bottles of baijiu on the wall! Seventeen bottles of baijiu! You take one down, you pass it around, sixteen bottles of baijiu on the wall!_ "

Following the singing she located the brig a few minutes later. Peering inside, she spotted two guards, one leaning against the wall, a shortsword at his hip, the other apparently unarmed, most likely a firebender, seated on a stool near one of the cells. Her boomerang took the firebender in the head, and a wave of water smashed the swordsman into the wall before he could draw his blade or even cry out in surprise.

" _-you take one down, you pass it around, three bottles of-_ Huh?"

"Shh! Keep singing for now!" she whispered harshly."

"Katara?"

"Shh!"

Searching the swordsman, she located a key ring and went about releasing her brother and Aang from their cells. Keeping watch as she began sawing at the many layers of rope around the young airbender, Sokka placed a whisker over her shoulder.

" _Thanks. Chatting with that guy was_ slightly _less annoying than listening to Aang sing, but I can't say I miss it. For a murderous Fire Navy marine, he was one of the least interesting people I've ever met."_

" _Glad I could help alleviate your boredom."_

Once Aang was free, they crept swiftly through the ship making their way upward in the hopes of reaching the main deck. They had to restrain Aang from haring off after his staff, but otherwise, barring a few tense moments of hiding from passing guards and the occasional wrong turn, their escape was mostly uneventful; up until it wasn't.

* * *

Zuko was roused from his fitful doze by the alarm bell tolling a pattern every sailor dreaded.

 _Hostiles on board._

Leaping up, he threw on the nearest shirt, a light silk thing, far too thin for the weather outside but it'd have to do, and wrenched his door open as fast as he could. Dashing out into the hallway ready for battle, instead of a raiding party of Watertribe warriors he found only Uncle and a few disheveled sailors.

"Alright ladies!" Lieutenant Jee's confident voice cut through the murmurs of confusion and fear, "We've all drilled for this. Group up, spread out, search the ship, and figure out what the hell is going on. Let's move it people!"

* * *

The loud bell startled the already tense Sokka so badly he nearly slammed into the ceiling(Aang _did_ hit the ceiling, though he managed to handspring off completely unharmed).

"Hurry!" Katara hissed.

No-one argued.

Dashing around a final corner, they shot out onto the deck- only to be confronted by Prince Ponytail and a veritable wall of marines.

"Going somewhere?"

Aang chuckled awkwardly.

"Actually we were just looking to get some fresh air, maybe take a quick swim?"

"Bit cold for that." the Prince deadpanned.

Katara replied with her boomerang, which Zuko swatted to the deck with the flat of his hand, before lashing out with a bolt of fire. The children scattered, and the marines charged. An airblast from Aang sent half of them sprawling and skidding, and in the chaos Sokka shot across the deck toward Zuko, ducking and weaving through his fireblasts. Vaulting over the fiery arc from the Prince's last kick, Sokka brought his own flames into play, and while Zuko deflected them relatively easily, it kept his hands occupied, forcing him to clumsily sidestep the Dragon's lunge. Narrowly managing to kick aside a swipe of Sokka's tail, Zuko was sent sprawling when the Dragon flared its wing into his chest. Rolling swiftly to his feet the Prince launched a two-handed wave of fire, forcing Sokka to dive aside and break off his follow-up charge.

Lunging at Zuko once more, Sokka was greeted with a flaming roundhouse to the snout as the Prince spun aside. Yelping and staggering back, the Dragon was forced to retreat further as Zuko pressed the attack with a relentless barrage of flame. Behind him, Sokka could see Aang and Katara struggling to fend off numerous foes as more marines and sailors poured onto the deck.

His distraction cost him however, as a firebolt from the Prince detonated underneath him, hurling him into the air and allowing Zuko to viciously kick him back to the deck. He landed hard on his left wing, letting out a bark of pain as he rolled upright.

 _Gonna feel that one tomorrow._

A low bellow announced Appa's entrance to the battle, only for the trio's hopes to be dashed as a volley of fire leapt from the deck, driving the bison back with a pained cry.

"Appa!"

Aang's moment of distraction proved fateful, as a bolt of flame slammed into his chest, blasting him over the rail and into the frigid antarctic waters.

"Aang!"

Katara raced to the edge of the deck before remembering the foes behind her, turning to find a dozen spear-points in her face.

Appa bellowed, attempting to charge the ship once more, and once again being driven bake by waves of flame.

Zuko advanced, fist cocked and blazing, backing Sokka up against the prow of the ship.

"Someone go fish the Avatar out; we can't have him freezing to death on us-"

Water erupted next to the ship, a towering waterspout shooting into the sky, Aang balancing at its summit, gleaming with baleful light.

All eyes were now turned to face the furious Avatar.

Water crashed down, sweeping over the deck, washing marines and sailors overboard, save for a lucky few who fetched up, battered and waterlogged, against the rails.

Setting down on the deck, the Avatar slumped as the light faded, just as he had emerging from the iceberg, leaving a barely conscious Aang to collapse into Katara's arms. Seeing his opening, Appa landed, lowing urgently. Not having any objections, the siblings rushed over, hoisting themselves and Aang into the saddle. Wincing from the strain on his battered wing, Sokka knew he would have some _interesting_ bruises in the morning, and most likely wouldn't be able to fly on his own for a few days.

 _Never thought I'd say this, but thank La for Laws-of-Nature defying bovines._

And with a quick 'Yip-yip' from Katara they were off, climbing into the gathering night.

* * *

Miraculously, there had been no fatalities; quite a few concussions, broken bones, and bruised egos, and several dozen cases of hypothermia of varying severity, but no-one had died.

Yet.

That would almost certainly change when they next confronted the Avatar and his allies, Zuko thought darkly. And there _would_ be a next time, he swore.

 _I know you're real now. I will hunt you to the ends of the Earth if I must, I will find you. I_ will _defeat you. I_ will _go home._

* * *

 _A/N: I feel like an idiot for not mentioning this last chapter, but a nuqaq is the Inuit version of an atlatl. For those who are not familiar, an atlatl is very simple device (usually a flat, grooved stick with a handle at one end and a notch or cup at the other) used to launch large darts or small spears with great force over long distances. Very powerful, and quite effective against armor, as many a Spanish Conquistador learned the hard way._


End file.
